


words

by esmeraldablazingsky



Category: Naruto
Genre: Handwavey resurrection AU, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mute Kisame and blind Itachi, Warning for mentions of death and injury but that’s kinda it, oh wait there’s crying and hugs so hmm maybe that too, there isn’t really anything else to tag so I’ll just leave it at that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-11 02:56:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12925836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esmeraldablazingsky/pseuds/esmeraldablazingsky
Summary: Itachi shouldn’t have woken up again, but here he is, and there’s a familiar presence by his side.





	words

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Galeos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galeos/gifts).



> Happy birthdayyyy i made this arrangement of words for you 
> 
> I’m not even going to try and explain what happened to resurrect them or anything because I honestly have no idea, but if anyone wants to speculate go ahead. I just wanted to write angsty fluff so here it is

Itachi was never supposed to wake up, not after dying once and being pulled back and fading from the world yet again. But here he is, undeniably conscious in some way. 

He wonders if he’s alive. The air smells like rain— no, maybe the ocean, and it’s just a little warmer than too cold. 

There’s someone else nearby, that much is clear even without the use of Itachi’s sight. His vision is gone, so perhaps he’s really alive this time, if he retained whatever injuries he had sustained before dying the first time. 

It takes a second before Itachi realizes who exactly is beside him, at most a few feet away, and when he does, he can’t help but wish he could see, if only to make sure his intuition isn’t failing him. 

“Kisame,” he says, just this side of frantic. This can’t be real. He can’t be real. 

Itachi stretches his hand out, hoping beyond hope that it doesn’t just grasp air, that the sudden relief he felt wasn’t a lie, and sure enough, Kisame takes his hand and Itachi can’t even begin to process whatever it is he’s feeling. 

It’s not quite right yet, though, and it take a few moments for Itachi to figure out what exactly is still missing. 

"Kisame," says Itachi softly. "Why aren't you talking?" 

His presence is there, reassuringly close and warm and alive, but there's something off about his silence and Itachi aches to hear him speak again. He hadn’t known how much it was possible to miss the morbid trivia, the smile that showed so clearly when Kisame spoke, but he longs for the familiarity so suddenly it hurts. 

Itachi is half-dreading the answer when Kisame makes a pained noise that sounds like speech but it isn't words, no- and Itachi realizes what must have happened. 

He reaches out to lay a hand on the side of Kisame's jaw and takes comfort in the fact that Kisame's hand comes up to cover his. 

Kisame is trembling slightly, and it breaks Itachi's heart to feel the shiver beneath his palm. 

He's never going to hear Kisame's voice again, and the realization hits him like a brick.

In the stomach.

Multiple times.

But he holds it together because someone has to and he isn't about to put that burden on Kisame, not now. 

His hand finds Kisame's shoulder to pull him closer but he finds another shock beneath his fingers— there's an arm missing and Itachi freezes for a split second before Kisame chokes back a whimper and Itachi pushes away his horror to wrap him up in a hug. 

Itachi knows Kisame well enough to know what he would be saying if he could speak, and he isn't sure which is worse, the silence or the prospect of Kisame's voice promising to do better, to make amends for things that aren't his fault. 

He has to know Itachi will never not love him, has to know that it does not depend on his physical state but on who he is, at his core. 

He has to know that he has nothing to prove. 

"Not your fault," says Itachi. 

Kisame makes a sound as if to disagree. It isn't as if Itachi wasn't expecting it, but he sighs and presses a kiss to Kisame's forehead and wonders how he can possibly make Kisame believe that he is and will always be enough. 

It was Itachi who introduced him to quiet, after all. They had found a happy medium somewhere, and it seems that they’ve been given a chance to do it again. 

Itachi exhales softly against Kisame's hair, makes a soft shushing sound even though there is no reason to tell him to be quiet. The repeated soothing gestures do the trick, though, and Itachi loses track of how long the two of them spend wrapped up in each other, their heartbeats slowly syncing up as the silence goes from agonizing to bearable to gentle, comforting, kind. 

Kisame is halfway in Itachi's lap and he's missing a leg, too, something that causes a sharp pang in Itachi's chest- how many times that has happened since they woke up, Itachi doesn't know, but it's too many. 

Kisame’s remaining arm wraps tightly around Itachi, holding him steady and somehow saying more than any words could ever express. They’re going to figure this out somehow. It’s quiet and the earth is cool beneath them but Kisame’s breath catches and he radiates a strange sort of heat that means he’s crying and Itachi can’t see it, can’t see him, but they know each other better than they know themselves and they're going to be okay. 

(Against all odds, they're going to be okay.)

It feels longer than it really has been since they were last in each other’s arms— although that’s just a guess, really, since Itachi has no idea how much time has passed. Either way, he feels some unspeakable burden dissolve with Kisame tucked as close against his chest as their difference in size will allow. 

Some things never change, Itachi thinks, considering the endless variety of strange cuddling positions he and Kisame have ended up in to try and accommodate both of them. It’s the closest thing to a lighthearted thought that’s come to him since he woke up and he says as much to Kisame, whose grin is tangible against Itachi’s shoulder. 

It’s not as if Itachi can’t say funny things sometimes. In truth, Kisame is more likely to know that than anyone else. 

They don’t move for a long time. Itachi’s leg is numb from Kisame’s considerable weight but he doesn’t want to push him away even a little bit, so he doesn’t. 

Footsteps sound in the dirt nearby, and Kisame’s grip tightens on Itachi’s waist even as he looks up, tense. 

“Oh,” says a voice faintly- a young woman, from the sound of it. Sakura? “But that’s— oh.” 

A murmured conversation, and then silence again before Sakura clears her throat. 

“We’re taking you back to the village,” she announces. “I imagine there are people who would be interested in… talking to you.” 

Not interrogating. Just talking. 

The prospect isn’t terrible. 

“We’re working on possible prosthetics,” says Sakura after a pause. Kisame lets out a sharp breath that might have been a laugh, and Itachi stands up with Kisame’s arm around his shoulders. Whatever might happen, they can finally face it together. 

“Okay,” says Itachi. 

Kisame says nothing, but then, words are optional. 

 

~end~

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it a) I’m glad and b) please do consider leaving a comment!! They make me really happy  
> have a nice day


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